Two Hands Between Us
by Ravin Halfelf
Summary: "I'm so sorry this happened, Swan," he choked out. "It never should have. If only I would have gotten to that monkey quicker, you wouldn't have to be here like this." He grabbed her one hand and squeezed it gently. "I promise that I will stay by you in this no matter what. We will get though this, I swear." Oneshot. Rated T for mild swearing and gruesome descriptions.


**AN: Ok so I had this really evil idea and was thinking about prompting someone else to write it but then thought what the hay I will just do it. So this will probably end up being really bad, especially since I am being lazy with grammar, but I needed to see it happen. You might have already guessed what will happen by the title but oh well. Also it takes place in Season 3 episode 14 "The Tower" during the part when Emma and Killian are walking through the woods looking for the Wicked Witch's hideout. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters in any way. After reading this story, you will probably be glad I don't.**

Emma and Killian were out walking in the woods looking for clues as to where the Wicked Witch was hiding. Killian shook a branch filled with holly berries with his hook.

"You'll look for any excuse to use that thing won't you?" Emma said with a sigh. Suddenly they heard a loud screech from up above. They both looked up just in time to see a flying monkey swoop down on them.

Killian yanked his sword out and Emma grabbed her gun, but before they could do anything the monkey tackled Emma. Killian desperately looked for an opening to kill the monkey, but it and Emma were rolling around too fast for him to stab at it without taking the risk of hurting Emma. Suddenly, Emma let out a loud screech of pain. That did it for him. With a yell of fury he jumped onto the monkey's back and stabbed it in the neck with his hook. The monkey screamed and jumped off of Emma to go after Killian, but before he got close Killian stabbed it in the chest with his sword. It disintegrated with a cloud of gold dust. Killian quickly ran over to where Emma was curled up on the ground. She was moaning with pain and cradling her left hand between her chest and knees.

"Emma, love, let me help. Let me see your hand." Killian knelt down beside her and saw what had happened immediately. Her hand was chewed up and was dangling from her arm with no life in it. Her wrist was broken clean in half about two inches below her hand, and was just hanging on by the thin bits of muscle. In a daze of shock Killian picked up Emma and started carrying her towards town.

"Don't worry darling, I'll get you to the hospital. You're going to be alright." Killian was walking as fast as he could without jostling Emma too much. Her hand wasn't bleeding as much as it would have if it had been a clean slice wound, but there was still blood coming out at a rate that couldn't have been good.

As soon as he got back to where Emma's yellow bug was parked, Killian gently placed her in the passenger seat, buckled her in, arranged her wounded hand in the most comfortable position while still making it rest above her heart to stem the blood flow a bit, and got in the driver's seat. He had never driven a car before but figured now was as good a time as any to learn. He started the engine and pressed the pedal. When the car didn't move but the engine revved, he realized that before driving Emma would always pull on a little lever beside the wheel. He tried that, and thankfully it did the trick. He pulled out from the side of the road and started driving down the road as fast as he could without crashing. He must have been driving by pure adrenaline and instinct because they made it back to town without any incidents. When he got to the hospital, he pulled Emma out of the car and took her inside the emergency entrance. She had been moaning in pain the whole trip and had been drifting in and out of consciousness. When the nurses saw her they rushed a bed over and Killian put her down on it. While two nurses rushed her off to the surgery room one stayed behind to talk to Killian and to figure out what happened. The whole time Killian couldn't even think about what was happening. He answered all of the questions but all the while his mind was somewhere else. _Gods, please let her be ok. Please let them be able to save it. _

After the nurse left to call Mary Margret and David, Killian sank down into a chair. All he could think about was what would happen if they couldn't save her hand. He desperately wished that they would be able to save it, but after seeing the condition it was in he knew it probably wasn't possible. He knew how hard it had been to learn to do things with one hand, how much pain there had been in the first few months, how hard it was in his mind to deal with that kind of loss. But at least he had another thing to think about. Milah. He at least was able to keep his mind on avenging her, as well as his hand, and that helped take his mind off of the loss. But Emma didn't have that. All she had to blame was a now-dead flying monkey, and perhaps the Wicked Witch, but they still didn't even know who the Witch was. On top of all that, Killian had 300 years to adjust to being one-handed, and Emma would have to get used to it in a much shorter period of time because of the Witch problem. Killian let out a quiet sob as he put his head in his hand. He was faintly aware of Mary Margret and David rushing into the room, desperately looking for any trace of their daughter, any trace that she was ok. They were asking him questions, but all he heard and saw were images of Emma, lying there moaning, grasping her left forearm in deep agony, tears of pain streaming down her face.

After what seemed to be hours of waiting but what was really only one, Dr. Whale came through a door and walked over to where Killian, Mary Margret, and David were sitting. Killian was instantly aware of what was happening around him and searched Whale's eyes for any sign that they had saved her hand. He was disappointed.

"She is stable, and the surgery went fine. There was nothing we could do. I'm sorry. She is still under anesthesia, but you can go see her if you'd like."

Mary Margret let out a sob and David grabbed her in a hug of comfort. Killian just stood there staring blankly at the floor, unable to wrap his mind of what had happened in just the last couple of hours. Just a little while ago they were strolling through the woods, exchanging joking remarks. Now she was lying unconscious in a hospital bed with one hand.

He followed Dr. Whale to her room. Mary Margret and David stayed behind, with Mary Margret being too shocked by what happened to see her just yet. As soon as Killian stepped through the door, he couldn't take it anymore. He rushed to her bedside and knelt beside her, planting a tender kiss on her forehead.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Swan," he choked out. "It never should have. If only I would have gotten to that bloody monkey quicker, you wouldn't have to be here like this." Glancing down to the spot he had previously refused to look, he saw her well-bandaged stump lying on the pale blue blanket beside her. He grabbed her one hand and squeezed it gently. "I promise that I will stay by you in this no matter what. We will get though this, I swear."

Killian rested his head on her right shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment. Suddenly he heard a low moan. Looking up, he realized she was waking.

"Hook? Where am I? What are you—" She reached up with her left arm to put her hand to her head, but suddenly stopped. A panicked look appeared on her face. "Hook, where is my hand? What the hell happened?" She started hyperventilating, but Killian quickly reached over and put his hand on her left forearm, gently pushing it down to the bed. "Calm down, love. Let me explain." Tears were beginning to form in Killian's eyes, but he held them back. "While we were walking in the woods looking for the Wicked Witch, you were attacked by a flying monkey."

"Yeah, I remember that part…" Emma said, finally breathing slightly less quickly.

"Before I was able to slay it, it managed to get a hold of your hand. Those monkeys have very strong jaws, darling. It managed to break your wrist, and your hand was crushed. There was nothing the doctors could do."

Suddenly a look of deep anguish came over Emma's face. Her gaze shifted to her left arm and to the point where it so abruptly ended. She put her hand up to her forehead. In a weak voice she said, "Can I just be alone for a few minutes? I need some time to process this."

"Of course, love. Take all the time you need. Your parents are here as well if you want them." Killian slowly walked out of the room, glancing back before quietly closing the door. At the last moment he saw tears dripping down Emma's face. Looking down at his own lack of a hand, he decided he needed to get out of there. He quickly walked down the hall in the opposite direction from the waiting room and found a back exit that led out to an empty alley. Sitting down on an old crate, he pulled out his bottle of rum and gulped some down. He couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. _Why did this happen to her? My sweet, beautiful, perfect Emma?_ He took another swig from the bottle. _I'll get that bloody witch back if it's the last thing I do._ Suddenly, he stopped. _No, revenge is not the way to do it this time._ Killian remembered how much Emma hated his vengeful side, and how she would not approve of him going after the witch just for her. Especially if it meant he would almost certainly die in the process.

Suddenly, the door leading from the hospital swung open and David peeked around the corner.

"Hook, there you are. A nurse said you'd come out here. I have a favor to ask. Henry is at Regina's and doesn't know what is going on. Would you mind going over there to fill him in? I know it will be tough, especially trying to explain how it happened, but I would really appreciate it."

"Of course. How's Emma?" David's face immediately changed to a look of even deeper sorrow than it had already been.

"Not that great. She's really having a hard time accepting this. Mary Margret's in with her right now."

Killian nodded in understanding before popping the cork back in his rum bottle and standing to go find Henry. David went back into the hospital as Killian slowly walked out of the alley into Main Street. With Henry's memories still not back, it was going to be tricky explaining what had happened. Killian decided to just say it was a wild animal. As he was walking he pulled his hook off and replaced it with the prosthetic hand that he kept in his pocket. The thought of Emma requiring one of these made him shudder. Before long he reached the mayor's house. Walking up to the front door, he knocked. The door was opened only a few seconds later by Henry, who had a very concerned look on his face.

"Where's my mom? Is she alright?" Regina walked up behind him with a questioning look on her face.

"Perhaps we should go for a walk while I explain everything, Henry." Killian glanced up to Regina with a look asking if that was alright. She gave a small nod of approval. The two of them walked off towards the docks in silence. By the time they were out of the neighborhood and nearing the ocean, Henry couldn't take it any longer.

"So what happened? Mom's ok, right?"

"Not exactly, Henry," Killian began hesitantly. This was going to be a lot harder than he had thought. Already he was struggling to keep his emotions down. "You see, while we were in the woods working on your mom's…err…case, a wild animal jumped out of nowhere and attacked her."

"Wait, what?" Henry stopped walking a look of shock on his face. "A wild animal attacked her? You can't be serious."

"I'm afraid I am, lad. She wasn't very hurt, except…" Here Killian looked down to his prosthetic hand and started playing with it. Henry noticed how nervous and sad he was.

"What are you saying? What happened exactly? Tell me!"

"She lost her hand." As soon as he said that, Henry froze. He looked to where Killian was still fiddling with his prosthetic. The reality of it hit him like a bomb.

"I want to see her." Killian looked up to see Henry staring at his prosthetic hand. "I need to see her, and she probably wants to see me. I'm the only family she has here and she needs me to be there." Killian was shocked by the maturity and calmness shown by this 12 year old boy in front of him.

"Alright. We can go to the hospital now, but I have to warn you she is pretty upset. Seeing you might do her some good though." They started off back towards town in silence. Killian could tell Henry was deep in thought by the pained look on his face, and he didn't want to interrupt whatever was going through his mind. He was still thinking about Emma himself. He knew the image of her lying there in the woods tragically wounded would haunt him forever.

By the time they arrived at her room in the hospital, Henry had resumed his stoic expression. Killian could tell he was determined to be strong for his mother. Emma had stopped crying, and she was lying in the bed with her bad arm resting over her stomach. She gave Henry a weak grin as he walked in the room.

"Hey kid. It's good to see you." Henry ran over to her and hugged her. Killian watched from a corner of the room, hidden slightly behind a cart filled with beeping monitors that recorded Emma's vital signs. He noticed the hesitation and sadness as Emma hugged Henry back awkwardly, her bad arm hooked around him. The look on her face changed from a grin to an image of agony as soon as Henry couldn't see her. Apparently she hadn't noticed Killian yet.

Killian watched on as Henry fussed over Emma. He could tell she was anxious already to be out of the hospital bed and that she was feeling trapped. He knew the feeling. When he had been recovering from his own loss of a hand, he had been desperate to go searching for his Crocodile. But his faithful crewmembers had seen to it that he stayed in his cabin bed resting. His experience had been much more dangerous after all. He had lost a lot of blood, and that combined with the utter agony of cauterizing his wound made him too weak to be walking about on his ship. But by the end of the fourth day of lying in bed he couldn't take it anymore and had forced his way up to the deck. By then though his faithful first mate Smee had already acquired an attachment for his arm that would hold the hook that he was determined to use as a replacement for his hand.

"Hey, kid? It's great to see you and all, but could I have a few moments alone with Killian? I need to talk to him." She glanced up to meet his eyes. Apparently she had noticed him after all.

"Sure mom. Get better soon." Henry walked out of the room with a glance towards Killian. As soon as the door shut behind him, Killian walked over to Emma.

"How are you doing, love? I know how hard this must be for you." Emma nodded in agreement, then brought her bad arm up in front of her face, fiddling with the bandages with her hand.

"I'm having a bit of a hard time actually believing it isn't there anymore, especially with all the bandages. You know what I mean?"

"Aye, love. I often forget when I have my attachment on. Sometimes it just feels like it is just covering up my hand, and that when I take it off it will be there. But it never is there. Sometimes at night I wake up thinking it was all a dream, and I can even feel my hand there still, but then it isn't."

"Yep, I think those are called phantom pains. I've heard about them, but I never thought I would experience them." She lightly rubbed the top of her stump with her thumb, wincing when she hit an especially painful spot. "The soreness should go away within a week or two. Dr. Whale said that things like this heal surprisingly fast, and that within about two weeks I should be able to get a prosthetic."

"Well, that's good news. Maybe you can get a hook to match mine, eh?" Killian was just trying to lighten the mood, but he could tell that his words deepened the sadness on Emma's face.

"Could you teach me?" She said so quietly that Killian wasn't sure he heard her right.

"Teach you what darling?"

"To live with one hand. I know that things are different here than they were where it happened to you, but maybe you could at least teach me the basics."

"Of course. I promise you we will get through this together. Whenever you need anything, just ask. I will be more than glad to lend a hand. After all, we only have two between us now."

**AN: So, how was it? Talk about cheesy ending! I know it is sort of depressing and it doesn't in any way fit in with what happens in the rest of Season 3, but like I said I got the idea and just had to see it down on paper (or screen in this case). Leave a review telling me what you think, and fyi I am open to adding more chapters if anyone wants! **


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